Squint
Squint is an eye-disorder arises when the eyes are not aligned in the same direction. This can be caused due to a nerve injury or dysfunction in the eye muscles. Treatments are available like lasers, and advance surgeries at Shreya Hospital Eye Care.
It is also called Strabismus (misaligned eyes) is a condition in which one eye is turned in a direction that’s different from the other eye. It’s usually found in children, but it can also happen in adults.
Introduction:
Strabismus or Squint is a condition in which your eyes don’t line up with one another. In other words, one eye is turned in a direction that’s different from the other eye.
Under normal conditions, the six muscles that control eye movement work together and point both eyes in the same direction. If you have strabismus, these muscles have issues controlling eye movement and can’t keep normal ocular alignment (eye position).
While strabismus is mainly found in childhood, adults can also experience strabismus. Most commonly, strokes cause ocular misalignment in adults. Another cause is physical trauma. But you can be an adult with childhood strabismus that wasn’t treated or was treated and has come back (recurred) or gotten worse.
Symptoms of Squint include:
- Double vision
- Closing or covering one eye when looking at something nearby
- Tilting or turning your head
- Headache
- Difficulty reading
- Eye strain
- Closing one eye when looking at objects that are far away or when you’re in bright light
Causes:
Most squint happens because of a problem with neuromuscular control of your eye movement, which involves your brain. Less commonly, there’s an issue with the actual eye muscle. Another factor is family history. About 30% of children with squint have a family member with a similar condition.
Diagnosis:
- Medical history (to determine their symptoms, family history, general health problems, medications being used and any other possible causes of symptoms).
- Visual acuity (reading letters from an eye chart or examining young children’s visual behavior).
- Refraction (checking their eyes with a series of corrective lenses to measure how they focus light). Children don’t have to be old enough to give verbal feedback when checking for glasses.
- Alignment and focus tests.
- Examination after dilating (widening) their pupils to determine the health of internal eye structures.
Treatment of Squint:
There is a variety of treatment options for strabismus. Your eye care provider will discuss which options are best for your specific situation. Treatment options include:
- Eyeglasses or contact lenses: If you have uncorrected refractive errors, corrective lenses may help your eyes remain straight, as they’ll need less effort to focus.
- Prism lenses: Special lenses that can bend light entering your eye to relieve double vision.
- Orthoptics (eye exercises): May work on some types of strabismus, especially convergence insufficiency (a form of exotropia).
- Medications: Eye drops, ointments or injections of botulinum toxin type A (like Botox®) can weaken an overactive eye muscle. These treatments may be used with — or in place of — surgery, depending on your situation.
- Patching: To treat amblyopia, if you have it at the same time as strabismus. Improving vision may also improve control of eye misalignment.
- Eye muscle surgery (strabismus surgery): Surgery changes the length or position of eye muscles so your eyes are aligned correctly. This is performed under general anesthesia with dissolvable stitches. Sometimes, adults are offered adjustable strabismus surgery, where the eye muscle positions are adjusted after surgery.